The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 529 - 518: Plan

Chapter 529: Chapter 518: Plan

The time for lunch was still a ways off, so the restaurant was empty and everyone took a moment to rest before they began to bustle about with their tasks.

Under Ms. Qian’s arrangements, Zhou Dalang and the others went to fetch water and purchase food ingredients, as the unexpectedly large number of customers today meant the vegetables brought over yesterday, as well as the meat bought today, were insufficient.

The remaining people took to washing dishes and tidying up the tables and chairs, while Junior Ms. Qian led Zhou Xi, Ms. He, and others in handling the kitchen affairs.

They needed to make steamed buns and let the dough rise for making noodles...

Manbao and the other youngsters took out the money they had received that day, stringing it up piece by piece, a hundred coins per string, ten strings per bundle.

Their food wasn’t expensive, and ordinary people mostly paid with copper coins, so they didn’t receive any silver.

Everyone enjoyed stringing the coins, chatting idly while they counted the money. Erya came over from the kitchen with the accounts, "Auntie, look, this is the amount of flour and vegetables that mother used today. I calculated it last night; roughly one basket of buns needs flour..."

Erya estimated a rough quantity and continued, "The two buckets of tofu pudding we made early today were also sold out. I was the one scooping it, and I counted about sixty bowls per bucket..."

Manbao took note of this and calculated approximately how much money it could bring in.

Bai Shanbao glanced over and said, "The difference seems rather significant; what happened?"

Erya sighed, "The shop was too chaotic before grandmother and auntie arrived this morning. There were quite a few who ate without paying, and some transactions were charged incorrectly."

Manbao frowned and said, "This won’t do. Right now, we have many family members here and it’s still like this; what will happen in a couple of days when we go back? Won’t big sister-in-law and the others be too busy to manage?"

"I’ve seen other busy restaurants operating smoothly without needing many waitstaff," Bai Shanbao suggested, " Perhaps you should go and see how other shops do it, then learn and arrange accordingly. It might be chaotic at the start because you’re not used to it, but after a few days, you should get the hang of it."

Manbao thought it made sense, "I know how they arrange it; normally, there’s just one person at the counter, and two runners. I don’t know about the kitchen, though."

Yang Heshu sat up on the second floor, listening to their animated discussion below, finally full and content, putting his chopsticks down.

"So many have learned it the hard way because they’ve studied. With a little thought, they can easily learn from others," Yang Heshu shook his head and sighed, "It’s a pity few people realize this."

Wantian didn’t speak.

Yang Heshu appeared disheartened, "Reading has so many benefits; why don’t more people love to read?"

Finally, those downstairs overheard Yang Heshu’s voice and remembered that Lord Yang was still upstairs.

After counting the money and recording it in the ledger, Manbao, along with Bai Shanbao and others, went up to the second floor, "Lord Yang, are you advocating for education?"

"Yes," Yang Heshu poured himself a bowl of water and said, "It’s a pity that from before the New Year to after, not many have been willing to study, let alone attempt to enter the County School."

He looked at Bai Shanbao again and asked, "Are you really not considering the County School? If you perform well, I can recommend you to the Prefectural School, and you can go directly there without taking exams."

Bai Shanbao pondered seriously for a moment before shaking his head, "Thank you, my lord, but I’d prefer to try for the Prefectural School myself. I’m still young; I believe I can get in before I’m fourteen."

Hearing this, Yang Heshu knew he had his own plans and asked with interest, "What are your plans, exactly?"

Bai Shanbao replied, "I’ve talked with my tutor. I should be able to enter the Prefectural School before I’m fourteen, then study for two years and see if I have a chance to enter the Imperial Academy. Before I reach the age of adulthood, I just need to qualify for the civil service exam."

Yang Heshu applauded and laughed, "Excellent, excellent. With your intelligence, entering the Imperial Academy shouldn’t be a problem. By the way, do you intend to try for the Highest Institute or the Four Gates?"

"Definitely the Highest Institute," Manbao looked at Bai Shanbao, "if you can’t make it into the Imperial Academy, the Highest Institute is doable, right?"

Although Bai Shanbao was quite confident in himself, his teacher always said there is always someone better out there, so he cautiously replied, "I’ll give it my best, but the Highest Institute only accepts five hundred students, and I may not be able to get in."

Yang Heshu had great confidence in him; given that Bai Shanbao was already not inferior to some of the students at the Imperial Academy, and with a few more years to grow, getting into the Highest Institute shouldn’t be hard.

However, Yang Heshu considered thoughtfully, it wasn’t necessarily a sure thing; after all, not only at the Imperial Academy but also at the Highest Institute, you can gain admission through family merits, and the number of spots isn’t less than at the Imperial Academy.

Yang Heshu looked down at the first floor, changing the subject with a smile, "The location of your family’s shop is good, and the skills are solid. Judging by this morning, the business should continue to do well in the future."

Manbao thought so too.

But things didn’t go as they expected; the new shop was bustling for two or three days, then gradually cooled down.

Every day, a fair number of people still came to eat, but the volume seemed to drop abruptly from the sky to mid-air.

For the first time, the restaurant saw its prepared ingredients not completely sold out, with plenty left over.

Zhou Dalang and the others weren’t fools; they observed carefully and realized that a considerable number of the customers who had come to eat at their place during those three days were sent by other restaurants in the city.

Perhaps after tasting their various offerings and determining their quality, those customers stopped coming.

Thus, the number of patrons dropped significantly.

Together with some people who loved to join the bustle, they might prefer to buy food nearby, and naturally didn’t come either.

Realizing this, Zhou Dalang and his companions were no longer in a hurry, "In business, it’s better to have an established shop. Looks like we need to prepare less food starting tomorrow."

Junior Ms. Qian nodded, "Let the others in the family go back. Since there are fewer people, we don’t need to keep so many hands here. The children should also be getting ready to go to school."

"With me and Sixth handling the front, it’s sufficient," Zhou said. "But can you manage alone in the back?"

"Probably not right away; I’d like to ask eldest sister to stay," she said.

Zhou Dalang thought for a moment and agreed, "Alright, let elder sister help you out."

The couple decided on this, and naturally, everyone else followed their lead. Over these three days, Zhou Dalang and Liulang had also become practiced, and now with fewer customers than before, dealing with the front wasn’t much of a problem.

As for the kitchen, there were even fewer issues; Junior Ms. Qian was used to managing kitchen work.

Everyone hastily went back home, with Old Zhou only advising, "For staples like rice and flour, take them from home. If there’s not enough, buy it from the village; don’t buy from grain shops, it’s too expensive, not worth it."

He continued, "This year, let’s not sell the grains we grow; keep them all for your business. And for beans, there will be enough. If there’s a shortage at home, it’s easy to buy more from the village."